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ALBINO! New Album and Tour

ALBINO! Afrobeat Announces Release of Peralta House Album and National Tour

ALBINO!

ALBINO!, the award-winning Afrobeat behemoth, announces the release of its hard-grooving new studio album, Peralta House on May 2, 2009. The band will celebrate the occasion with a hometown performance at The Independent in San Francisco Followed by and Extensive Western States tour. As a special bonus, everyone who attends the CD release show at the Independent will receive a Full Copy of Peralta House included with the price of admission.

In keeping with the Afrobeat tradition of protest, several songs on Peralta House relate to the recent crises that have been facing the nation. The title track pertains to families struggling with displacement from their homes. "No Face Enemy" confronts elected officials' abuses of power and disingenuous political posturing. "In Richmond" was inspired by the disparities in wealth between two of the Bay Area's bridge-connected communities. On a brighter note, "Feel Alright" is a playful reminder that in difficult times music can offer release and transcendence, and when experienced live, it can even create community.

The album's title track was inspired by and borrows many passages from a recent community-generated exhibit at the Peralta House, the Oakland, CA cultural center that is the centerpiece of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park. In the song, composer and ALBINO! front man Michael Bello gives voice to the poignant stories of a number of Oakland residents recalling their struggles with the forces of urban decline, redevelopment, and displacement upon their neighborhoods. Bello encountered these stories amongst a captivating anthology, written upon tapestries draped within the Peralta House.

"The stories told through that exhibit resonated deeply with me, as someone who grew up in the East Bay coping with poverty," states Bello. "The way in which Peralta House is bringing members of the surrounding community together to document and contend with their often difficult history seems like a way to channel negative experiences into something productive and affirming."

Peralta House represents the first time that ALBINO! has truly captured the magic of its live performances in the studio. Last year upon concluding a successful national tour in Colorado, the band found an ideal recording studio in Denver that could accommodate all eleven musicians playing in one space together. While at its tightest from playing every night on tour, the band enjoyed three productive days of recording, far from the distractions of home. The result is an explosive album that is the most accurate sample of the band's live show to date.

ALBINO! will tour the U.S. from coast to coast and beyond in support of Peralta House, including confirmed summer dates in Hawaii and Alaska.

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Comments

Yesyesyes!! One of the tightest Afro-beat outfits around. Funky, smart, technical, soulful and all around fantastic! If you like these guys (or any Afro-beat for that matter) also check out Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble (also about as tight as it gets).

What a beautiful powerful amazing band!! GO ALBINOOOO!!! So fortunate to live in the Sierras where we get visits by these guys (and gal) frequently. They have a charisma that is unsurpassed. You just want to hug each one of them and smear their tribal makeup all over your face because their playing and performance heats you up inside. Michael Bello is one of a kind front man who tunes into the audience with a psychic trust that is unique. The players are all very talented and have great showmanship. I have nothing negative to say except that I wish I had more time to travel around to see them more often. Last time I saw them they were stretching the boundaries of afro beat to a new grace. I cant wait to hear the new album and I hope they make some more fans out there because people have been missing out for too long now. :)